Balloon
Balloons are important objects in the Balloon Fight series. They have appeared in every Balloon Fight game to date. The player is capable of using up to two balloons at a time. Balloon Fight and Tingle's Balloon Fight Balloons made their first appearance in the original Balloon Fight, which was released for the NES. Single Play mode In Single Play mode of Balloon Fight balloons are used by the player in order to float above enemy Balloon Fighters and defeat them. After popping the balloon of an enemy Balloon Fighter, the player can defeat one by hitting its parachute, running into it or making it sink into the water. The parachute is exclusive to Balloon Fight and Tingle's Balloon Fight DS where enemy Balloon Fighters will never use more than one balloon. Instead, use a parachute which essentially acts as a second balloon, with the exception being that the enemy Balloon Fighters would no longer be able to use the thrust of balloons to stay upwards, though they may land on the ground as normal. The player may use the thrust of balloons to float higher using the A or B button. Thrust is most effective when the player has two balloons left, though less effective if the player just has one balloon left. The player falls and loses a life if all balloons are lost. Enemy Balloon Fighters are able to pump up and regain balloons if they stay on the ground for long enough. The player Balloon Fighter himself is unable to pump up balloons. If the player pops an enemy's pink balloon he or she is granted 500 points. 750 points are granted for popping an enemy's green balloon and 1000 points for a beige balloon. Bonus rooms Main article: Bonus room After every 3 or 4 phases, a bonus room is entered. They allow the player to grab up to 20 balloons which appear outside of chimneys. Initially the balloons are worth 300 points each, though as the phase number increases players progressively score 500 points and a maximum of 700 points. If all of the balloons are collected in the bonus room the player receives a Perfect! and a 25,000 bonus point score is granted. Vs Play mode If Vs Play is selected, the first or second player also has the ability of popping the other player's balloon, who will play as another Balloon Fighter. If another player is defeated, he or she will continue to re-appear on the screen until all remaining lives for that player are lost. Balloon Trip Balloon Trip mode features blue, stray balloons. These balloons do not affect the amount of balloons which the player is currently using, though they do add 100 points on to the player's score. Balloon Kid, Hello Kitty World and Balloon Fight GB Balloon Kid is the sequel to Balloon Fight. Instead of player Balloon Fighters, the player may use one of two characters; Alice (used in Single Play mode) or Samm (as player two in Vs Play mode). It was released for the GameBoy in October 1990 (US) and January 1991 (Europe). Balloon Kid was never released in Japan and in its replacement a special edition Hello Kitty World was released the next year for the Famicon Disk System and featured improved visuals and the main protagonist as Hello Kitty as the main protagonist instead of Alice. Though it also removed Samm and the NPC Jim. Single Play mode The main differences to the original Balloon Fight are the removal of parachutes, the ability for Alice, Samm (or Hello Kitty) to pump up their own balloons and the ability to release balloons at any time without instantly losing a life. Weight Main article: Weight The player is heavier when traveling about with no balloons. Balloons can be pumped up by standing on a surface and continuously pressing the down button on the D-pad. Balloons can be left to float up into the air if the player presses the B button and can be picked up again if the player is quick enough to grab them. The A button is now the only button which allows the player to float. The player cannot use the pump if he or she is already using two balloons. Stray balloons are now red or yellow and can also appear in Single Play mode as well as Balloon Trip mode. Double balloons Once the player receives 20 balloons in a stage, double red and yellow balloons will appear which add 200 points on to the score instead of the usual 100. For every 100 balloons, an extra life is granted and an additional extra life is granted at the end of the stage from a Perfect! if the player grabs every balloon in that stage. Bonus rooms Main article: Bonus room For each stage, a bonus room can be accessed allowing the player to grab up to 20 balloons which appear outside of chimneys. If all the balloons are collected in the bonus room yet another extra life is granted to the player. Power-Up Balloons Main article: Power-Up Balloon A Power-Up Balloon is possible of appearing once double balloons are available and temporarily grants invincibility to the player character. Enemies will be defeated by Alice if they run into her when she is under the effects of a Power-Up Balloon. Vs. Play mode There are no notable changes to the behavior of balloons in Vs. Play mode as of Balloon Fight and Tingle's Balloon Fight DS, with the exception of those mentioned in the Single Play mode section. Stray balloons, bonus rooms and Power-Up Balloons do not appear in Vs. Play mode. Balloon Trip mode There are three small differences to the behavior of balloons compared to the original Balloon Fight. There are no longer blue colored balloons, the associated popping animation for stray balloons will last longer, and players are able to release their balloons at any time. Stray balloons do however use a longer animation in Tingle's Balloon Fight, compared to the original Balloon Fight. In spin-off titles See also #Bubble Trivia #Several stages in Balloon Kid, Hello Kitty World and Balloon Fight GB are actually possible to complete without using any balloons. Though this would require good timing for the player to jump and ride across enemy birds. Category:Objects